Who is Karoline Leavitt? White House’s youngest press secretary makes debut

White House property caput Karoline Leavitt made her debut successful the briefing country connected Tuesday, spending astir 47 minutes answering questions from the White House property corps, promising to talk often with the quality media and opening up the briefing country to societal media influencers and podcasters.

“President Trump is back, and the aureate property of America has astir decidedly begun,” she said arsenic Tuesday’s briefing kicked off.

She took a combative code with those covering the White House and President Donald Trump’s administration, echoing her boss’ longtime hostility toward galore bequest media outlets and outlining what to expect with however the White House volition grip media during Trump’s 2nd term.

Leavitt committed to “telling the information from this podium each azygous day,” and said the White House would “call out” media outlets for pushing immoderate perceived misinformation.

“We cognize for a information that determination person been lies that person been pushed by galore bequest media outlets astir this president,” Leavitt said to the reporters successful the room.

“While I vow to supply the information from this podium, we inquire that each of you successful this country clasp yourselves to that aforesaid standard.”

“Millions of Americans, particularly young people, person turned from accepted tv outlets and newspapers to devour their quality from blogs, societal media and different autarkic outlets,” she continued. “It is indispensable to our squad that we stock President Trump’s connection everyplace and accommodate this White House to the caller media landscape.”

Leavitt besides announced that the Trump medication has introduced a “new media” spot successful the James S. Brady Briefing Room; a determination she said would “welcome autarkic journalists, podcasters, societal media influencers and contented creators to use for credentials to screen this White House.”

“Whether you are a TikTok contented creator, a blogger, a podcaster, if you are producing morganatic quality contented … you volition beryllium allowed to apply,” she said.

Read connected to larn much astir Leavitt’s emergence successful politics, different arguable topics she touched connected successful Tuesday’s briefing and however her debut became a history-making event.

The youngest idiosyncratic to clasp the position

Leavitt’s assignment arsenic property caput astatine the property of 27 secures her arsenic the youngest idiosyncratic to ever clasp the job, beating retired Ronald Ziegler, who was 29 erstwhile helium served nether President Richard Nixon.

Leavitt attended astatine Saint Anselm College, a wide arts schoolhouse successful Manchester, N.H., connected an diversion scholarship. She played connected the softball squad and graduated successful 2019 with a bachelor’s grade successful authorities and communication, the archetypal successful her contiguous household to gain a assemblage degree.

In 2016 she interned astatine Fox News during the New Hampshire primary.

“The NH Primary is however my emotion for authorities and media originated,” Leavitt wrote connected a station shared to her Instagram past year. “From that week on, I knew what I wanted to bash for my career.”

During Trump’s archetypal presidency, Leavitt worked arsenic an adjunct property caput and statesmanlike writer. When helium mislaid re-election successful 2020, she began moving arsenic communications manager for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik.

In 2022, Leavitt ran for Congress successful New Hampshire’s 1st District. She won the Republican information but mislaid the wide predetermination to Democrat Chris Pappas.

Eventually, Leavitt made her mode backmost to Trump’s team, serving arsenic his nationalist property caput during his 2024 run and spokesperson for his modulation team.

Juggling the occupation arsenic a mom

Leavitt is the sixth moving parent successful a enactment to clasp the occupation of property secretary, joining President Joe Biden’s Karine Jean-Pierre and Jen Psaki and Trump’s first-term property secretaries, Kayleigh McEnany, Stephanie Grisham and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

She returned to enactment “just days” aft giving commencement to her son, Nicholas, successful July 2024.

Speaking to The Conservateur successful October, she said she was conscionable three days into her maternity leave, watching tv and relaxing astatine location with her newborn, erstwhile she watched Trump get shot astatine a rally successful Butler, Penn.

“I looked astatine my hubby and said, ‘Looks similar I’m going backmost to work,’” she told the outlet.

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The adjacent day, she was backmost connected television.

“Leaving the babe each time to spell to work, it does interruption your heart,” Leavitt confessed successful the interview. “It’s incredibly challenging emotionally, physically, spiritually.

“It would person been a batch easier for maine to respectfully diminution this occupation connection and bask this past twelvemonth successful the bid and comfortableness of my erstwhile job.”

When an Instagram follower asked her if she was disquieted astir the demands of the occupation and missing retired connected moments with her son, she shared that she prays astir it each time and that “it’s precise hard but it’s besides each I know.”

What Trump has said astir Leavitt

When Trump announced Leavitt’s assignment past November, helium praised her spot and intelligence.

“Karoline Leavitt did a phenomenal occupation arsenic the National Press Secretary connected my Historic Campaign, and I americium pleased to denote she volition service arsenic White House Press Secretary,” his connection read.

“Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to beryllium a highly effectual communicator. I person the utmost assurance she volition excel astatine the podium, and assistance present our connection to the American radical arsenic we Make America Great Again.”

Still, she confessed to The Conservateur that moving for Trump has challenging aspects — successful particular, she’s had to set to the “Donald Trump slumber schedule,” arsenic she called it, and was waking up astatine 4 a.m. each time aft lone getting astir 4 hours of slumber each night.

What other Leavitt said during Tuesday’s briefing

Aside from announcing that the White House would unfastened up seats successful the briefing country for alternate forms of media and influencers, Leavitt addressed an array of topics, including plans to chopped down connected diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and the administration’s frost connected national grants and loans. She besides spoke astir an elimination of backing for “transgenderism and wokeness.”

She defended Trump’s enforcement bid that eliminates the acknowledgement of trans Americans, describing it arsenic a restoration of “sanity” successful the look of “wokeness.”

She besides reinforced Trump’s stance connected immigration, telling the public, “If you are an individual, a overseas nationalist who illegally enters the United States of America, you are by explanation a criminal.”

During the briefing, she said the plans to slap Canada with punishing tariffs connected Saturday is inactive successful play, telling reporters that she spoke with the president Monday nighttime and helium indicated Feb. 1 was “still connected the books” for the instauration of damaging duties against Canada and Mexico.

Trump initially promised 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs successful effect to what helium called the nonaccomplishment of some countries to curb the amerciable travel of radical and drugs crossed the border.

She besides pointed to past weekend’s standoff with Colombia, which initially refused U.S. repatriation flights of deported migrants but past backed down erstwhile Trump threatened tariffs, arsenic an illustration of the usage of tariffs arsenic a negotiating tool.

“I won’t get up of the president connected advocating to overseas nations what they should oregon shouldn’t bash to get distant from these tariffs,” she said.

“The president has made it precise wide that he expects each federation astir this satellite to co-operate with the repatriation of their citizens.”

When asked astir whether this medication would observe Black History Month, she responded with: “We volition proceed to observe American past and the contributions that each Americans, careless of race, religion oregon creed, person made to our large country.”

— With files from Global News’ Sean Boynton and The Associated Press